Everything is dark when an electric jolt hits my chest. My eyes open, and I stare at the ceiling in the Missing Aisle. My body is sore, and my fingers run over a gash on my arm. I feel broken, and it doesn''t help that I see Kurt''s golden ring emerald eyes hovering over me.
KURT
Looks like you lost.
RYE:
What happened to me?
KURT:
Well, you were about to die.
The dungeon has a fail-safe, and it recognizes
that you have no more moves left, so to speak.
The last possible millisecond pulls you out at
that right moment before you are about to die.
RYE
You saved my life?
KURT
Deadman can''t pay off their debts.
Speaking of which, it''s time to pay yours.
You will also pay this month''s dues to me and
every subsequent month. Failure to do so will
cause the slugs to return and take your soul.
Though once every month, you can attempt to
clear your debt and try the dungeon again.
I died. I mean, I almost died. I remember the monsters coming after me, and I guess i almost died. I don''t even know how. Kurt helps me on my feat. Every twitch, every move, my body cries in pain. I pull out my credit card, and Kurt snatches it. A register appears in a poof of smoke, and he swipes my first of many, many payments. That swipe hurt most of all.
KURT
See you in a month. Oh, and don''t
forget the frying pans are in aisle 20.
Within a blink, I was no longer in the missing aisle, and now I was in front of aisle 20. I go in and spend fifteen minutes picking one out. I felt the pain of another credit card swipe and returned to my one-bedroom apartment. I walked straight to my bedroom, dropping my pan on the carpet and hitting my pillow with the back of my head.
I hold the stress ball up. It''s back to its vibrant red. What am I supposed to do? My mind fills with a way to make extra cash. I bought a ball that cost the same as a new house or a luxury car. Yes, I get its magic, thats amazing, but how am I supposed to be okay with putting myself in mountains of debt.
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I will need to pick up another job to make these payments. Maybe it will be okay. Who knows, maybe in a few months, things will go great.
FOUR MONTHS LATER
It didn''t.
I walk back to Silver Steves. My shoulders are slumped over, and my body hurts worse every day. I only use the ball as I can''t afford to take on any more debt. The farthest I have made it while using the ball is the same grocery aisle, with the same thing happening. I get surrounded by the monsters and get my card swiped.
I walk to the twentieth aisle, and by now, I know the routine. I continue walking toward the wall, breaking the invisible fog, and entering the Missing Aisle. By now, Kurt and I have gotten too familiar. The same relationship between a gambler and his bookie.
KURT
Rye! Welcome back.
How have you been?
RYE
In pain.
KURT
Yeah, last month really
did a number on you.
Kurt grabs a can on a shelf marked, "DO NOT BUY." I learned this is a shelf of everything he brings to work, and he tosses a blue can to me.
KURT
Vanilla Pepsi, just like you like it.
I don''t know if the fact I''ve been attempting to do this so many times led to him learning things about me, horrifying or sweet.
KURT
You know what your problem is?
RYE
No, but i know you are going to tell me.
KURT
Look, I don''t want you
to have to do this either.
RYE
Then why not let me go?
KURT
Because it''s my job. I know you get that.
We all have to make money somehow. Still, doesn''t
make what I have to do easier. So please, hear me out.
RYE
Fine.
KURT
Buy something else.
RYE
Oh my god! Are you for real? Do you
make a commission on this stuff?
KURT
Yes, but that''s not why I am doing it, I swear.
Look, what is this, your fifth attempt?
You aren''t going to make any headway if you
keep going in and thinking all you need to
do is sprint, and it hasn''t worked. You must
pick something off the shelf and use it to help yourself.
RYE
Sure, just pick something and add another
300k to my debt? Even if I am okay with that,
and I''m not, what would I even choose?
I''m not magic, and I have no skills.
KURT
That''s not up to me to decide.
You''re the one who needs to make that choice.
I just don''t want to see you keep hurting yourself.
RYE
<u>Sure</u>, I''d like to run the dungeon.
Kurt nods while his floating platform appears. The aisle morphs into the dungeon run, and I am left alone in the aisle of items I can choose to buy. Potions, magical talismans that look like a car air freshener, I don''t know what any of them do.
How can I even defend myself if I don''t know what anything does? Let alone how much everything costs. Maybe I should have asked Kurt what all this stuff does before starting the dungeon run. The. I see a white sheath and handle, a gold guard shaped like a castle''s tower. Z-CALIBER.
I feel the weight of the stress ball in my pocket. I turn to the first island. Every rotation, the islands move around. It''s never the exact same situation, except for one. On my second attempt, the island filled with sand appeared. This is a combination of a desert and the store''s parking lot. Sand is everywhere, with chunks of the parking lot acting as asphalt islands on a sea of sand. There are cactuses and drowning shopping carts scattered apart. The sand grains are the lot beaten apart by the hot winds.
The monsters of these islands are the skeletal gorillas. This is the third time they have been number one. It''s almost like they enjoy fighting me, or maybe they know they can handle me.
Beyond that are months of me attempting to run through the dungeon, hoping I will make it to the end. That loop can last for years; if I get the sword, it can be the rest of my life. But if I don''t change anything, I know that "can" will become a "will."
I walk to the first island with the sword strapped around my waist.